Half Baked Recipes

This post goes out to all of my current works in progress, why they worked and why they didn’t.

First an update on the previous post where I paired the lentils and quinoa with tofu and broccoli.

Spicy Baked Tofu

tofu before fully coating in marinade

marinaded tofu

the complete dish

Why it worked: All of the flavors were on point.  I made a paste with several spices and lime juice to marinade the tofu.

Why it didn’t work: I should have pan fried the tofu as I usually do, but I thought baking would be easier as I could do it all in one batch.  The result was little rubbery instead of a crispy outer shell.

Yogurt crusted cauliflower

cauliflower before prep

pre-baked cauliflower

shell fell off

I had high hopes for this one as the website had beautiful pictures of perfectly crusted cauliflower wedges http://www.purewow.com/entry_detail/recipe/8821/Forget-florets–roast-the-whole-damn-cauliflower.htm

Why it worked: strong flavors and made an excellent paste that stayed on the cauliflower throughout the duration of baking.

Why it didn’t work: it did not cut into slices and form the “crust” noted in the recipe

Daphne Oz Sweet potato brownies

pre-baked

post baked

Much better with a peanut butter swirl

This one looked perfect on the TV show (as most recipes do) http://abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/sweet-potato-brownie-bites-daphne-oz

Why it worked: there was flavor in a lower fat version of a brownie.  Tasted even better with a swirl of peanut butter.

Why it didn’t work: The texture was not a hit.  It was not cake or fudgy.  It was a confused brownie.

Raspberry Corn muffins

pre-baked

Why it worked: It was simple to doctor up a box of inexpensive Jiffy corn muffin mix.

Why it didn’t work: it was in between a sweet and savory version and needs to be more of one or the other.

The Art of the Sea Scallop

Ingredients ready to go

I have loved making cauliflower rice and decided to pair it this time with sea scallops.  As a more creamy texture, I reconstituted polenta and made a bed for the cooked scallops.  In hindsight I missed the mark in two ways.  First the scallops did not get crispy even after drying in a clean kitchen towel for 30 minutes.  Second the cauliflower could have used a hit of salt from capers.

This week a few tips thanks to my research from America’s Test Kitchen as opposed to a recipe as I have some tweaking to do.

The crescent shaped muscle needs to be removed before cooking as it is very tough and chewy.  I could that they are even easier to find and remove after cooking as well. 

You want to buy dry scallops, but if you purchase wet they can be soaked in a water/lemon juice/salt mixture for 30 minutes. 

scallops cooking

The last helpful tip was to cook until the middle reached 115 degrees before removing from heat and resting where the cooking temperature will increase to 125-130 degrees.

This one was by no means perfect, but did taste wonderful and I found all the tips helpful.

Cauliflower rice

• 1 head of cauliflower, stem removed washed and dried
• 1 lemon rind
• 1/2 carmelized onion
• 3-4T white cooking wine

Polenta

the complete dish

• polenta tube
• 1C milk
• 1 lb dry packed wild caught sea scallops

BONUS TIP: If you like em sweet opt for a female scallop which turn pink when spawning and have a sweeter richer taste.

Scallops without a good sear but tasty

Less Lactose Lasagne

After returning to America I had a request for some lasagne with a little less lactose and cheese if possible while still tasting like a traditional lasagne.  Most recipes call for cheese by the pound including ricotta (which no one really seems to really like) and mozzarella which has very little flavor in the US and watery when fresh.  I decided to stick with two flavorful cheeses and a veggie to replace the ricotta(which has a high lactose content in its whey).  Studies show that aged cheeses like parmesan have less lactose as well as goat cheese which for some scientific reason it is naturally homogenized.  Of course it always tastes better with homemade pasta.

Doesn’t look like much but tastes delish

 

I made three batches of dough using one egg and a cup of flour with a pinch of salt in each batch.  I rested them for an hour in plastic wrap before threading through the machine.

I made a cauliflower puree with 2 cloves of the garlic I roasted the previous day.  I will use this in place of the ricotta in future recipes as it was so good!  Then I made the sauce using a combination of canned tomatoes and paste which I simmered for 30-45 minutes.

Cauliflower puree 

Soften a head of cauliflower by steaming or boiling.

Add garlic and salt and puree

Stir in cheese (I used goat and parmesan)

Tomato Sauce

Simmering Sauce

• 1 bay leaf
• oregano
• 2-4T EVOO
• 1/2 onion diced
• 1/2 onioin whole
• can of tomato paste
• 2 cans of tomatoes (if whole break up first)
• salt
• banana peppers (remove seeds for less spice)

Brown diced onion in olive oil 5-10 minutes

Add rest of ingredients and simmer for up to an hour.  The 1/2 onion left whole was a tip I learned in Itly, but it seemed a bit wasteful as it gets thrown out with the bay leaf in the end.  Add water if sauce thickens too much.

Layer and bake until warmed through or until brown on top.

The layering process

Casseroles are never the most glamorous but so tasty!

Friendsgiving 1- Cream-less Creamy Cauliflower soup

Well it is that time of year again.  It is not necessarily all about the family, rather the things we are thankful for including our friends.  My new favorite way to spend a day off is cooking with friends.  This week Mary’s turn.  We whipped up a last minute meal of cauliflower soup and speculoos blondies.  The soup was a recipe from Whole Foods meant to be served as little “soup shooters” but it was so tasty it deserved to be served as the main dish.

Well it is ironic that I found this recipe while shopping at Whole Foods.  I adore making soups because they are so easy especially this one which calls for a pound of frozen cauliflower, but my whole foods does not carry it.  After trying three grocery stores I stocked up on cauliflower and was ready to cook.  

The recipe from whole foods says it makes 12 servings of little shooters, but I made this more of the main event and finished off the whole batch before the end of the night.  The addition of crunchy almonds really took the soup to the next level.

Creamy Creamless Cauliflower Soup

1 lb frozen cauliflower

3.5 C Unsweetened almond milk

salt/pepper

2 apples diced (I used one large apple)

1T lemon juice

1 onion (thank heavens I already had one caramelized to save time and chopping tears)

Topping

1/2 C Slivered almonds (lightly toasted)

1/4 C Chopped Parsley

Lemon zest from 2 small lemons

Here is the link to the Whole Foods Method

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/creamy-cauliflower-and-apple-soup-shooters

 

MY METHOD

Combine all soup ingredients except lemon juice and let simmer for 30 minutes.  Pour in lemon juice and blend.  Serve and top with almond mixture! So so simple.  The only recommendation is to make sure you use enough salt and pepper to amp up the flavor.

Our other creations that day will be in following posts.  Thanks Mary